Published: Monday, March 11, 2013 at 10:06 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, March 11, 2013 at 10:06 a.m.

Rena Morano, center, education director and service leader at Congregation Ner Tamid, is shown with Wayne Silberg and Cathy Meyers. On the table near them is a Haggadah, the book they read from at the Passover seder, a box of matzoh and a seder plate on which ritual objects for the seder are placed. Behind them is the Holy Ark, which contains the Torah scroll.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY CONGREGATION NER TAMID

Wayne Silberg was one of the estimated 4 million unaffiliated Jews nationally before his girlfriend, Cathy Meyers, stopped in for Rosh Hashanah services last year at Congregation Ner Tamid.

"She went and they really opened their arms to her; they were really nice," Silberg said. "When she got home, she mentioned to me how she enjoyed going there and how the people were great."

The inclusive nature is one of the reasons Meyers, who is Catholic, and Silberg will return for an upcoming Passover workshop. Since last fall, they attended Yom Kippur and Hanukkah events hosted by the congregation.

Most recently, the couple attended a Purim-related puppet show that related the role of the Maccabees and "groggers," or evil noisemakers. The details brought Silberg back to his youth and bar mitzvah in Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania.

"It rekindled my memory," said Silberg, who was a nonpracticing Jew for 20 years. "The names of the people and sequence of events was from when I was 10 or 12 years old."

As a Brooklyn native who grew up with Jewish friends, Meyers said she was familiar with some Jewish traditions. She attended a Passover service with her sister 20 years ago in West Palm Beach and is used to making matzo ball soup.

She anticipated enjoying learning more about the holiday in the workshop, based on her previous dealings with Ner Tamid leaders like Rabbi Barbara Aiello and Rena Morano, the education director and service leader.

"I was a little nervous at first," Meyers said. "When you leave there, you feel happy and you have a smile on your face. They make you feel so welcome."

Morano warmth is part of the inclusive approach Ner Tamid applies to its all of activities, including the Passover workshop, which is part of the adult education series. Those efforts benefit interfaith couples and non-Jewish grandparents raising grandchildren in the tradition.

Congregation members reach out to help non-Jewish friends conduct their own church seder dinners as they understand the similarities between it and the Christian Last Supper. Through such celebrations, regardless of faith, Morano said, the real meaning of Passover is honored.

"It's to have an individual journey of spiritual growth," she said. "We are all enslaved in one way or another, to our own shortcomings in life, so what does it mean to work toward a journey of liberation? It's an ongoing journey."

The Passover workshop, offered as part of the Bradenton Adult Talmud Torah, will be from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday at 4802-B 26th. St. W., Bradenton. To R.S.V.P., call 755-1231 or email shalom@nertamidflorida.org.

<p>Passover serves as an opportunity for some to reconnect to their faith to celebrate the Jews' freedom from Egyptian slavery attracts people.</p><p>Wayne Silberg was one of the estimated 4 million unaffiliated Jews nationally before his girlfriend, Cathy Meyers, stopped in for Rosh Hashanah services last year at Congregation Ner Tamid.</p><p>"She went and they really opened their arms to her; they were really nice," Silberg said. "When she got home, she mentioned to me how she enjoyed going there and how the people were great."</p><p>The inclusive nature is one of the reasons Meyers, who is Catholic, and Silberg will return for an upcoming Passover workshop. Since last fall, they attended Yom Kippur and Hanukkah events hosted by the congregation.</p><p>Most recently, the couple attended a Purim-related puppet show that related the role of the Maccabees and "groggers," or evil noisemakers. The details brought Silberg back to his youth and bar mitzvah in Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania.</p><p>"It rekindled my memory," said Silberg, who was a nonpracticing Jew for 20 years. "The names of the people and sequence of events was from when I was 10 or 12 years old."</p><p>As a Brooklyn native who grew up with Jewish friends, Meyers said she was familiar with some Jewish traditions. She attended a Passover service with her sister 20 years ago in West Palm Beach and is used to making matzo ball soup.</p><p>She anticipated enjoying learning more about the holiday in the workshop, based on her previous dealings with Ner Tamid leaders like Rabbi Barbara Aiello and Rena Morano, the education director and service leader.</p><p>"I was a little nervous at first," Meyers said. "When you leave there, you feel happy and you have a smile on your face. They make you feel so welcome."</p><p>Morano warmth is part of the inclusive approach Ner Tamid applies to its all of activities, including the Passover workshop, which is part of the adult education series. Those efforts benefit interfaith couples and non-Jewish grandparents raising grandchildren in the tradition.</p><p>Congregation members reach out to help non-Jewish friends conduct their own church seder dinners as they understand the similarities between it and the Christian Last Supper. Through such celebrations, regardless of faith, Morano said, the real meaning of Passover is honored.</p><p>"It's to have an individual journey of spiritual growth," she said. "We are all enslaved in one way or another, to our own shortcomings in life, so what does it mean to work toward a journey of liberation? It's an ongoing journey."</p><p>The Passover workshop, offered as part of the Bradenton Adult Talmud Torah, will be from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday at 4802-B 26th. St. W., Bradenton. To R.S.V.P., call 755-1231 or email shalom@nertamidflorida.org.</p>